Olympiad round 2 report (many photos and videos added)

Aug 29, 2012

Ukraine, the defending champion defeated Qatar with a 3-1 score despite the loss by first board GM Vassily Ivanchuk to GM Mohamad Al-Modiahki. Ivanchuk was slightly better with black but he carelessly allowed the enemy queen to sneak into the back rank. Ivanchuk immediately resigned, not declining attempts to seek compensation for the piece.

The United States bested Lithuania by 3,5-0,5 after Hikaru Nakamura finally broke down the stubborn resistance of Grecian GM Vidmantas Malisauskas in a marathon 107-moves long game. Hikaru once again proved why he is a cerebral assassin.

Azerbaijan had no difficulty dispatching their Irish opponents, however the young talent FM Ryan Rhys Griffiths managed to steal the only draw for his team in the game against the seasoned Azeri GM Rauf Mamedov.

Note: Click on photos for full size view

Fabiano Caruana

Ivan Cheparinov

IM Cueto and GM Zambrana

GM Dimitrios Mastrovasilis

Team FYROM

GM Vladimir Georgiev

GM Sergey Karjakin

GM Leon Hoys and GM Gonzales

WIM Marina Brunello

Norway with Morgan Lillegard

GM Sergey Karjakin

Le Quang Liem and Susan Polgar

Team Korea

Veselin Topalov and Kiril Georgiev

France and India defeated Peru and Turkey 2016 respectively, by a 3-1 score. Poland cleanly swept Costa Rica 4-0, while China took 3,5 points against Italy, with Wang Hao defeating the young Italian-American phenom Fabiano Caruana on the top board.

Russia allowed two quick draws against Greece, but they continued pushing with the white pieces on the remaining two boards. Both Grischuk and Jakovenko were successful and Russia finished the day with a 3-1 victory.

England defeated Brazil by a narrow margin thanks to the full point of Nigel Short, while the remaining three games were drawn. The same scenario was seen in Germany – Georgia, only this time the executioner was Arkadij Naiditsch.

Multiple teams in the Women’s section swept past their opponents with perfect scores – China bested Sweden, while leaving the World Champion Hou Yifan on the bench for the second day in a row; Georgia vs Belgium; and Poland vs Venezuela.

In a stunning game, Brazilian WFM Vanessa Feliciano Ebert held European champion Valentina Gunina to a draw but it was not enough to help her team as Brazil fell to the Russian ladies 3,5-0,5.

Former U.S. Champion Anna Zatonskih rested today while her team mates handed Estonia a defeat by a score of 3,5-0,5. In an Asia-Pacific match-up, India won against Australia with the same score.

The Bulgarian team miscalculated and underestimated their Indonesian opponents. With the top Bulgarian lady and former World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova resting, the wily Indonesian team seized advantage of her absence and tied the match.

The top rated competitor in the Women’s Olympiad, Anna Muzychuk of Slovenia, entered the battlefield today to contribute to her team’s 2,5-1,5 victory against The Philippines.